Central Valley’s varsity cross country program hosted the Central California Conference’s #1 cluster meet on Sept. 12 at Ceres River Bluff Regional Park.
The Hawks competed in the Western Athletic Conference in 2017.
“It was a learning experience for the kids,” head coach Veronica Moreno said.
Central Valley’s varsity boys posted a team score of 112 en route to a fourth-place finish.
The competition featured seven schools.
Merced (24), Buhach Colony (48), Atwater (62), Golden Valley (132), Patterson (149) and El Capitan (189) placed first, second, third, fifth, sixth and seventh, respectively.
Hawk sophomore Christian Balderas placed 4th overall with a time of 17 minutes, 16 seconds on the 3-mile course.
He topped 58 other runners.
Central Valley teammates Chase Bogart (18:39), Enrique Martinez (19:25), Eric Andrade (19:42), Favio Gonzalez (19:49), Javier Cuevas Sanchez ((19:59), Hector Arvizu (20:00), Alejandro Gonzalez (20:31), Sabino Urrutia (21:10) and Patric Senesom (21:38) finished 19th, 27th, 30th, 32nd, 41st, 42nd, 47th and 55th, respectively.
"They work hard. I wouldn’t be surprised if they moved up in league by the end of the season.”Coach Veronica Moreno
“Obviously, I want them to place higher,” Moreno said. “They deserve it. They work hard. I wouldn’t be surprised if they moved up in league by the end of the season.”
Central Valley’s varsity girls earned 143 points on their way to a sixth-place showing.
Atwater (32), Merced (44), Buhach Colony (59), Golden Valley (104), Patterson (111) and El Capitan (206) placed first, second, third, fourth, fifth and seventh, respectively.
Vanesa Contreras was the Hawks’ top finisher.
She took 18th with a time of 23 minutes, 30 seconds on the 3-mile course.
The competition featured 57 runners.
Priscilla Garcia (24:35), Abigail Garcia (25:23), Carla Martinez (25:29), Kelsy Naranjo (25:50), Adriana Huaracha (27:40), Aryanna Jimenez (27:44) and Claudia Gomez (29:23) took 26th, 31st, 33rd, 37th, 47th, 48th and 53rd, respectively.
“I knew it was going to be challenging,” Moreno said. “The runners we moved up competed at a different level last year. We have a foundation set. We will be working towards improving our times and placing higher.”
Clean sweep for Dawgs
Ceres High’s varsity boys cross country team cruised to a 15-48 win over Johansen last Wednesday at Ceres River Bluff Regional Park.
“We had a perfect score,” head coach Katie Thiele said.
The Bulldogs (2-1) remained in second place in the Western Athletic Conference dual-meet standings.
Ceres High swept the top five individual spots versus Johansen.
Aaron Alarcon led the Bulldogs with a first-place showing.
He finished the 3.1-mile course in 20 minutes, 5 seconds.
Luis Yepez (20:23), Bryan Erenas (20:41), Fernando Cardoza (20:50) and Daniel Yepez (21:17) took second, third, fourth and fifth, respectively.
Ceres High’s varsity girls cross country team kept its perfect record against WAC competition intact with a forfeit victory against Johansen last week.
“They didn’t have a full team so we won,” Thiele said.
The Bulldogs’ top five finishers were Destiny Suarez (first), Karina Baez (third), Gabby Soto (fourth), Andrea Contreras (fifth) and Jacqueline Rodriguez (seventh).
